
 |
|
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
|
| |
Jewish World Review
April 24, 2009
/ 30 Nissan 5769
VOILA! A double agent exposed
By
Paul Greenberg
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
It's a name to conjure with on Capitol Hill and throughout the country whenever the power of political lobbies is discussed: The National Rifle Association's support or opposition can determine elections in state after state, especially in the red ones, and may provide the decisive swing vote in bluer ones. It can make all the difference even in a presidential election if it's close enough.
No wonder candidates court the NRA's favor, voters go by its recommendations, and the presidential candidate who knows what's good for him will be sure to schedule a photo-op so he can be pictured stalking through the woods like some Natty Bumppo straight out of James Fenimore Cooper. Remember ol' John Kerry hunting grouse or whatever back in 2004, no matter how ungainly he looked and how transparent the pose? There's a reason the NRA is so powerful: It's as American as mom, apple pie, mass mailings and shootin' irons.
But not till now, Gentle Reader, has the full extent of the NRA's clever operation been revealed. Now it can told: In a brilliant move, its political operatives have planted an agent provocateur in the very heart of the opposition. The Hon. Bobby Lee Rush may fool others, but not this hawk-eyed sleuth. Ostensibly he's a true-blue, left-wing lib who represents the First Congressional District on the South Side of Chicago, a founding member of the Black Panther Party before he grew up, and the only American politician ever to best one Barack Obama mano a mano in a political campaign. But that's just his cover. In his secret life, he's obviously in cahoots with the very incarnation of the red-white-and-blue, Second Amendment-revering, concealed-carrying American right: yes, that very same National Rifle Association!
How do I know? Think about it: Why else would Congressman Rush have introduced HR 45, aka the Blair Holt Act, except to generate a bonanza of contributions to the NRA, not to mention a flood of outraged e-mails warning that the Second Amendment is in clear and present danger?
Folks who might not ordinarily genuflect before the gun-rights lobby can recognize when the reasonable regulation of firearms becomes sheer harassment of gun owners. As this clever bill of Mr. Rush's bill does flagrantly.
The Blair Holt Act he's sponsoring is more than a cheap way to exploit the memory of a 16-year-old honor student shot down as he tried to protect a girl on a public bus in Chicago from gang violence. It's a boomerang of a bill sure to energize NRA members and maybe gun owners in general. Not to mention anybody who can still read the unexpurgated Bill of Rights, including Amendment II. That's the one that says: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
The title of Congressman Rush's 26-page assault on the Second Amendment gives the reader only a hint of all its aims: To provide for the implementation of a system of licensing for purchasers of certain firearms and for a record of sale system for those firearms, and for other purposes. And, boy, those other purposes cover a lot of ground:
HR 45 would oblige every gun owner in the country, after being thumb-printed and passing a government-approved training class, to obtain and carry a firearms license bearing passport-sized photo identification. In order to acquire that license, gun owners would have to prove that they have a government-approved storage place for their firearms. Each sale would be recorded by the U.S. government. The licensed gun owner would then face criminal prosecution if he failed to report every firearm he (or she) owns, or if said gun owner changed residence without informing the Attorney General of the United States, or if his firearm were stolen and the theft went unreported. As for you deer, duck or turkey hunters out there, this means, you, too. No exemptions.
There's more, much more. There would be fees charged for the licenses and unspecified other federal "services" at the time a weapon is purchased. A new license would be required every five years for each firearm. No firearms could be grandfathered into the law. All sales of handguns and semi-automatic firearms with detachable magazines, including antiques, would have to go through licensed dealers.
There are so many sweeping provisions in this horse-choker of a bill, space doesn't permit citing all of them. HR 45 is almost Soviet in its sweep, and probably would prove about as effective as that late, unlamented system.
Congressman Rush has all kinds of burdens in mind for law-abiding gun owners; the list above covers only a representative sample of its provisions. I say law-abiding gun owners because, in the highly unlikely event his bill did become law, you can just imagine how little attention would be paid to it by the kind of thug who shot up that bus in Chicago and killed young Blair Holt in the process.
But so far Bobby Rush's proposal hasn't attracted a single co-sponsor. Which figures. It sounds like nothing more than a publicity stunt, a bill only the most virulent anti-gun nut could support.
But, boy, if this bill did pass, can you imagine the nationwide reaction? One result, among others, might be the biggest rightward swing in next year's congressional elections since the Republican landslide of 1994. Which is another reason to suspect that Congressman Rush is just a plant for the gun-rights lobby. Even now it's a good bet the NRA is ginning up a fundraising campaign that uses HR 45 as Exhibit No. 1 to show that the right to bear arms is about to be swept away, so send your contribution in NOW
!
Stay tuned. For next I plan to expose Janet Napolitano, secretary of Homeland Security. She's just issued an all-points memo telling federal agents to be on the lookout for veterans and "groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration."
Ms. Napolitano is obviously another plant of this vast right-wing conspiracy. Why else would she set out to offend and mobilize so many Americans? By now she's apologized to the veterans who took offense at her jab (like nobody else would?) but I have yet to see an apology to those Americans who dare voice opposition to abortion or immigration in this politically correct New Order. Or to those of us who believe others' freedom of speech should be as respected as our own.
These double agents, the Bobby Rushes and Janet Napolitanos, can't fool Sherlock Greenberg. I know they're really just provocateurs who've found a way to drum up support for gun rights and free speech. Inspector Clouseau, my hero and role model, would spot 'em in a minute.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Paul Greenberg, editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, has won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. Send your comments by clicking here.
Paul Greenberg Archives
© 2006 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Tony Blankley
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Alan Douglas
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
Marybeth Hicks
David Horowitz
Jeff Jacoby
Renee James
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ed Koch
Ch. Krauthammer
Michael Ledeen
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Pat Sajak
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Ben Wattenberg
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
Lisa Benson
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Jimmy Margulies
Rick McKee
Michael Ramirez
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Ed Stein
Danna Summers
John Trever
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters

Mr. Know-It-All
Dr. Peter Gott
GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
Tech Maven
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|